This episode picks up right where the previous one left off. Guns drawn, Jenny and Cassie check the Legarskis’ house in search of Ronald. Cassie startles when she sees a life-size cutout of Rick Legarski in an upstairs bedroom. Though Jenny and Cassie appear to be hot on Ronald’s heels, they have no such luck of finding him. Ronald escapes through an upstairs window and the women find only the raised window and a white curtain blowing in the breeze.
I like the actors on this show, but at times the storyline doesn’t live up to the acting. For instance, why is Ronald able to hide in plain sight in this rural Montana town? I’m from a rural town in Georgia, and there’s no way my fellow townsfolk wouldn’t piece together who I am if given a photo of me. Yep, that’s right. Ronald’s picture is featured prominently in the local paper. You mean to tell me no one notices or recognizes him from a drawing that looks exactly like him? Oh, that’s right, a young boy named Erik, possibly age 10-12, recognizes Ronald when he delivers a newspaper to Ronald’s house. First of all, I wasn’t aware that kids had paper routes anymore, though that’s just probably my own ignorance. Secondly, no way would I let my son deliver papers all over town and even out on country backroads. Though I know that depraved men like Ronald exist much more rarely than crime shows would have us believe, I still wouldn’t risk it by letting my son ride around on a bike delivering papers to strangers.
Anyway, young Erik, the only person who recognizes Ronald’s face in the paper, takes Ronald’s picture and then he’s immediately grabbed when Ronald sneaks up on him from behind. Ronald puts Erik in a cage in the basement of the house Ronald shares with his recently murdered mother. In fact, mommy dearest’s corpse is also stored in one corner of this same basement.
Another dumb thing that happens is that Ronald answers his doorbell. Imagine seeing your picture in the paper, knowing the cops are searching for you, and then answering the friggin’ doorbell just like it’s any regular day. The man at the door is Ronald’s mother’s priest. How do we know? He just so happens to be wearing a white collar and carrying a bible. Ronald shouldn’t let this priest into the house. After all, he has a kidnapped boy in the basement who is able to make plenty of noise despite the masking tape on his mouth. And, of course, Ronald should be suspicious that our man of God may have seen him in the newspaper.
Regardless of how risky it all is, Ronald lets the priest into the living room. The man of the cloth tries to counsel Ronald about the “prurient” urges/desires that Ronald’s mother had confided to the priest about Ronald. But Ronald won’t listen to the minister. Instead, Ronald accuses the man of trying to drown him during his baptism years before. Jeez, Ronald. He’s sounding crazier and crazier. Earlier in this episode he even mocked his mother’s voice while cleaning the kitchen. “We keep a clean house,” he said, mimicking his mother’s nagging tone.
Anyway, the priest hears Erik screaming in the basement after Erik notices the mother’s corpse in the corner of the basement. Ronald makes some lame excuse about his dog and how he has to go down to the basement to check on it. Rather than showing the priest out of the house, Ronald leaves the priest in the living room and goes down to the basement. The priest follows him down there and sees the boy in the cage. He tries to sneak back upstairs, but then he’s immediately chased by Ronald. A fight ensues. I felt hopeful that the priest might even get the best of Ronald, but no such luck. All of Ronald’s experience committing violent acts is too much for our priest. Ronald drowns the man in the kitchen dishwater and flings his body down the stairs to the basement. I’m always amazed at the strength of bad guys in shows and movies. Is it really possible for an average-sized man to have the strength to throw a larger man down a flight of stairs, even if that man is already dead?
Before he got kidnapped by Ronald, Erik texted his mother that he recognized the man from the paper, though he doesn’t give more details. His mom goes to the PI office after Erik doesn’t come home on time. Denise calls police, and they piece together that the trucker must be someone on Erik’s paper route. Thus, again, they’re close to catching the culprit.
Cassie sneaks into Legarski’s hospital room to see if he recognizes her. She takes off her mask and hair covering. He looks blankly at her. Later, he asks if he shot her with an arrow. Cassie later tells Jenny that she doesn’t feel that Legarski is running a scam. She seriously believes he doesn’t remember her. I don’t know what to believe. Legarski could be totally faking.
No one wears face coverings on this show, which is set in Helena, and people don’t appear to be socially distancing either. In an earlier episode, the pandemic was mentioned, so I know the show takes place during the present day. Perhaps Montana doesn’t have many Covid cases. Only about half the folks you see here in Tennessee wear masks, but it would definitely be strange to not see anyone wearing them at all.
The episode ends with Erik getting his hands on a staple gun and a taser. He shoots a couple of staples into Ronald’s head and tasers Ronald. Still, the boy is no closer to escaping. Ronald, infuriated, begins to pour gasoline all over the basement. Yikes.
Stay tuned.
Monic Ductan 
Leave a comment